Your PALM contract

PIoWR Learning Hub · about 5 minutes, including the quiz · For: Seasonal Workers

In this lesson you will learn:

How to join PALM safely
What to check in your offer
Who to call in Australia

Joining PALM

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme lets employers in Australia hire workers from Pacific countries and Timor-Leste. You apply through the labour sending unit in your own country — for example, in Fiji, the National Employment Centre.

The PALM website is clear: you do not need to pay or give gifts to anyone to join the PALM scheme. Your employer pays your flights and some other costs up front, and you repay them gradually once you start earning.

Your rights

PALM workers have the same workplace rights and protections as Australian workers. Employers must also meet scheme rules — accommodation standards, enough hours of work, and worker wellbeing. Employers must appoint a welfare and wellbeing officer, give an arrival briefing, and hold regular discussions with workers.

Check your offer

Employer and location — who you work for and where.
Pay — hourly or piece rate. Ask how it compares with Australian workers in the same job.
Minimum hours — short-term workers have had a minimum hours guarantee (120 hours over 4 weeks, or pay equal to that, since July 2024; extended more than once). Check the current PALM poster.
Deductions — usually repaid over your first 12–16 weeks, spread out so you still have enough to live on.
Accommodation — cost must be fair, at cost, and explained in your offer. You may arrange your own, and must not be pressured either way.
Return travel — ask who pays and how.

When something is wrong

Talk to your employer first if you can. If that does not work: PALM support service 1800 51 51 31 (palm@dewr.gov.au), Fair Work Ombudsman 13 13 94 (interpreter 13 14 50), your Country Liaison Officer, or the PALM grievance form. In an emergency, call 000.

Key points

Apply only through your country's labour sending unit; never pay or give gifts to join.
PALM workers have the same workplace rights as Australian workers.
Check pay, minimum hours, deductions, accommodation and return travel before you sign.
PALM support service: 1800 51 51 31.